Starz Developing Vietnam Drama From ‘Spartacus’ Producer

Starz has put in development Airborne, a drama series from writer Gideon Yago (The Newsroom) and Spartacus executive producer Rob Tapert. Airborne is a coming-of-age story set at the dawn of the Vietnam War. It follows a young helicopter crew as they fight for survival, sanity, their souls, and each other in a country — and war — that are descending into chaos. “Even though we are using Vietnam and the early days of air cavalry as a backdrop, our hope is to bring the audience timeless stories about what makes a hero and how a group of young people fight to retain their humanity in the midst of a surreal and terrible conflict,” said CAA-repped Yago, who will write the script. He is a former MTV News and CBS News writer and correspondent. “Airborne will capture the human story of war — a story of love, loss and sacrifice,” said Tapert, who will executive produce, while Aaron Lam will produce for Starz. The announcement comes on the heels of FX putting in development a limited series about the Vietnam War from Stephen Gaghan.